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Roman
Holiday (1953)
In William Wyler's charming, old-fashioned, delightful,
captivating fairy-tale romance shot entirely on location in Rome
- it was a bittersweet Cinderella storybook
tale in reverse (with an April-October romance) that propelled Audrey
Hepburn's film career:
- in the opening scene, a Paramount News
NEWS FLASH announced, with newsreel footage, the goodwill
tour of a royal princess, Princess Ann (Oscar-winning Audrey Hepburn
in her first major starring role), a member of the royal family
of an unnamed European country. "...And so to Rome, the Eternal
City, where the Princess' visit was marked by a spectacular military
parade...The smiling young Princess showed no sign of the strain
of the week's continuous public appearances"
- during her royal state visit to Rome, Italy, she
was presented to the guests during an extravagant ball, escorted
into the room wearing a beautiful gown and crown of jewels; due to
the endless functions and ceremonial protocol, she was quickly
bored; upset, she suffered a temper tantrum and
was given a sedative by one of her attendants
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In the Evening - Upset By All Her Royal Duties
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- Princess Ann made a daring runaway venture and
slipped out of the palatial Embassy that night, to escape the endless
tedium of the many official occasions and her expected roles
to play - to experience life beyond the claustrophobic and imprisoning
confines of her royal position - without royal control, duties,
escorts and chaperones
- as the Princess (feeling the effects of a sleep-sedative)
fell asleep on a low park wall, street-smart, undercover American
newspaperman Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), one of the many reporters
who was planning to interview the Princess the next day, walked
by the "incognito" sleeping beauty, and didn't realize who
she was (he found it ironic that she was "well-read,
well-dressed" and "snoozing
away on a public street" like a drunk); he protectively took
her in a taxi to his apartment
- in his apartment, Joe instructed her on sleeping
arrangements and helped her prepare for bedtime by offering her his
pajamas; he was amused that she requested his servitude and assistance:
"Will you help me get undressed, please?...This is very unusual.
I've never been alone with a man before - even with my dress on.
(she began unbuttoning and removing her blouse) With my dress
off, it's most unusual. I don't seem to mind"; her
last regal command before he went out for a short while, was: "You
have my permission to withdraw"
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Their First Night Together
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- the next day, Joe realized he had overslept - on
his schedule was an 11:45 am royal press conference with the
visiting Princess; during a meeting in the American News Service
office of his boss Mr. Hennessey (Hartley Powers), Joe was caught
lying by asserting that he had attended, when in fact the press
meeting had been cancelled; then, he saw a newspaper photograph
of the Princess - and realized the identity of the young girl back
in his apartment; to be in good graces with his boss, he promised
to get an exclusive story on the Princess that would help him with
his career advancement - it would be worth five grand:
"I'm talking about her views on everything!...The private
and secret longings of a Princess. Her innermost thoughts as revealed
to your own correspondent in a private, personal, exclusive interview"
- for his exclusive, Joe coordinated
with his carefree, bearded photographer friend Irving Radovich
(Eddie Albert), hinting: "It's front-page stuff. That's all
I can tell ya. It might be political or it might be a sensational
scam. I'm not sure which. But it's a big story, and it's gotta
have pictures"
- after waking up in Joe's apartment at about 1:30
pm, the subsequent sequence of the incognito Princess' entertaining
24 hour tour around Rome, beginning first with her solitary stroll
(with Joe secretly and protectively following) through the streets
of Rome basically incognito, experiencing things as an ordinary
commoner, and doing things exactly the way she wanted to
- at
a hair salon, she had her hair drastically cut shorter after ordering
the Italian haircutter (Paolo Carlini):
"All off" - making it less likely for people to recognize
her, and then she ordered a gelati cone at a roadside stand and accepted
a single flower from a flower vendor
Princess Ann's One Day of Holiday Fun in Rome
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- Joe just happened to bump into her, suggested that
she "live dangerously" and take the rest of the day off, and
arranged to share it with her ("Why
don't we do all those things, together?");
their first stop was to have lunch at a sidewalk cafe; he
represented himself not as a news-reporter but as a successful
businessman selling fertilizer and chemicals
- a number of hilarious segments involved Irving,
who arrived and had to be cautioned by Joe to ensure that Ann's
anonymity was kept intact; Joe had to keep silencing or nudging Irving
to not be so obvious; Irving followed the couple
to take surreptitious pictures with a miniature camera hidden in
his cigarette lighter
- Ann smoked her "very
first" cigarette, and she rode on the back of Joe's Vespa scooter to see
the famous monuments and sights, including the ruins of the Coliseum;
she also recklessly drove both of them through the streets, while
photographer Irving tried to get some candid shots
- in the memorable 'Mouth of Truth' stone sculpture
scene, after Ann put her hand in the statue's mouth, Joe pretended
to have his arm bitten off in the mouth: "The
Mouth of Truth. Legend is that if you're given to lying, you put
your hand in there, it'll be bitten off"; she was amused by
the surprise of his joke and laughed
- at an inscription wall where wishes were supposed
to come true, he suggested that she make a wish; she kept her desire
private and added: "Anyway, the chances of it being granted
are very slight"; she spoke about staying out later into the night, but it would end her
fairy-tale life - sensed by Joe as a premonition: (Ann: "At
midnight, I'll turn into a pumpkin and drive away in my glass slipper" Joe: "And
that will be the end of the fairy tale")
- in a delightful scene that evening, the two danced on a riverboat barge down by Sant'
Angelo on the Tiber River; to avoid being taken by royal "black hat" agents
who recognized her on the barge, Ann hit one of the secret
servicemen over the head with a guitar, and both Joe and Ann
jumped in the water and swam for the shore
- on dry land, they congratulated
themselves on their successful escape and then kissed each other
- they both found themselves desperately falling in love; once back
in his apartment to change out of their wet clothes, although
they dreamt of becoming closer to each other, Ann also knew she
would inevitably have to part from him and return to her other
life and duties ("I'll have to go now") - but she still wanted
to seek comfort in his arms
- at this crucial juncture after their long day together,
while she was embracing and kissing him, Joe had already
decided to give up his 'exclusive' story about the Princess and
not violate her privacy or exploit her; he began to confess to
his deceptions: "There's something that I want to tell you,"
but Ann responded firmly that she had to resume her royal duties:
"No please. Nothing. I must go and get dressed"
- in a tear-jerking, sentimental night-time parting
scene, Joe drove her back to a street corner within sight of the
imposing, imprisoning gates of the Embassy; in the memorable
goodbye scene, she gave him difficult-to-hear directions: "I
have to leave you now. I'm going to that corner there and turn. You
must stay in the car and drive away. Promise not to watch me go
beyond the corner. Just drive away and leave me as I leave you....I
don't know how to say goodbye. I can't think of any words";
Joe suggested: "Don't try"; they
sadly hugged and kissed each other for the last time - and then after
walking toward the gates, she was suddenly gone
Night-Time Parting Scene -
Watching Ann Walk Away
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- in a brief meeting with his boss in his apartment,
Joe refused to divulge his story scoop to his boss: "I have
no story" - because of his affection for Ann; after the boss left, Joe and
Irving chuckled together and were amused by the pictures which
showed Ann with her first cigarette, her experience with the Mouth
of Truth, the inscription "wall where wishes come true," their
seizure at the police station ("Police inspects Princess"),
dancing on the barge, and the climactic shot of Ann hitting one
of the secret service over the head with a guitar ("Crowned
Head")
- in the final bittersweet, moving ending during
the next day's press corps interview,
the Princess spoke obliquely about her most wonderful day in Rome
with Joe without naming him: "Each in its own way was unforgettable.
It would be difficult to...Rome, by all means, Rome. I will cherish
my visit here in memory as long as I live"; as the Princess
stepped forward to personally meet and shake hands and say farewell
to each member of the press corps, she could only be polite and impersonal
to Joe: "So happy, Mr. Bradley" - she could not reveal
the secret of her day with him, and they had to pretend that they
didn't know each other
- as Ann gave a final goodbye, she slowly turned
toward the audience, gave a wide smile toward everyone (and then
directly towards Joe), held a tear-inducing gaze, and then departed;
after the press corps had left, Joe stared at the door through
which she left, never to see her again; with echoing footsteps,
he slowly walked out of the room - the camera with a backward-moving
tracking shot followed his retreat from the girl he loved; he turned
one last time at the end of the hall to sadly look back before
leaving
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Princess Ann's Royal Visit to Rome
Ann Discovered by Joe Bradley Sleeping on Low Wall
Efforts to Cover Up the Princess' Unexplained Disappearance
Joe Caught Lying to His Boss About Attending the Princess' Press Conference
Joe's Realization of the Girl's Identity
Waking Up in a Strange Man's Apartment
Briefly Parting Ways
Irving Snapping Photos with Hidden Camera
Riding on Joe's Vespa
The 'Mouth of Truth'
At the Inscription Wall
Dancing on the River Barge
The Concluding Last Glance and Farewell
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